Accusations trigger calls for Kavanaugh impeachment

1of2WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 11: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) speaks during a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee confirmation hearing investigating Nominee to be Chairperson and Member for the Chemical Safety and Hazard Board Katherine Lemos and Nominee to be Director for the Fish and Wildlife Service Aurelia Skipwith on September 11, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Zach Gibson/Getty Images)Zach Gibson2of2(FILES) In this file photo taken on October 08, 2018 US President Trump participates in the swearing-in ceremony of Brett Kavanaugh (R) as Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court at the White House in Washington, DC. - US President Donald Trump mounted an angry defense of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh on September 15, 2019 as the controversial judge faced calls for an investigation over fresh allegations of sexual misconduct. Trump blasted the media and "Radical Left Democrats" after a former Yale classmate of Kavanaugh alleged that the jurist -- one of the most senior judges in the land -- exposed himself at a freshman year party before other students pushed his genitals into the hand of a female student.The latest allegation in the New York Times came after Kavanaugh denied sexual misconduct accusations leveled against him by two women during his confirmation to the Supreme Court last October. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP)BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty ImagesBRENDAN SMIALOWSKI

Albany

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand called on the House of Representatives Sunday evening to open an impeachment inquiry into Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who has again been accused of sexual misconduct.

Gillibrand is one of several Democratic lawmakers calling for impeachment after The New York Times surfaced a new allegation Saturday that the judge sexually assaulted a woman during his freshman year at Yale University. Kavanaugh also faced sexual misconduct accusations while the Senate considered his nomination last year, when Christine Blasey Ford publicly testified that he had forcibly held her down and groped her in high school.

"I believed the accusations against Judge Kavanaugh then as I do now," Gillibrand tweeted. "I also believe that Kavanaugh knowingly lied to the Senate in his testimony. The House should begin formal impeachment investigations without any delay."

Kavanaugh's nomination was approved in October by a vote of 50-48.

Several Democrats called for the judge's removal in the wake of the new accusation, including multiple candidates for president. U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker and Kamala Harris, former U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke and former housing and urban development secretary Julián Castro all tweeted their support for impeachment proceedings to start.

The Times piece, adapted from the upcoming book "The Education of Brett M. Kavanaugh: An Investigation," chronicles the previously unreported allegation of sexual assault, as well as the claims of Deborah Ramirez, who alleges that Kavanaugh pulled down his pants and pushed his penis in her face at a college party. The Times reported that the FBI declined to interview more than two dozen witnesses who may have been able to corroborate Ramirez's account.

The Times later updated its story to note that the woman at the center of the new allegation declined to speak to reporters for the book, and her friends say she does not remember the incident.

Kavanaugh, who also did not comment for the story, has vehemently denied previous allegations of sexual assault lodged against him. President Donald Trump defended the justice Sunday, accusing "radical left Democrats and their partner, the LameStream Media" of trying to "scare him into turning liberal."

"He is an innocent man who has been treated HORRIBLY," Trump tweeted. "Such lies about him."

Cayla Harris is based at the Capitol in Albany covering politics for the Times Union. She graduated in May 2019 from the George Washington University, where she studied journalism and Spanish. During her time in D.C., she interned for the Hearst Washington bureau. Reach her at cayla.harris@timesunion.com